Test Engineer

First Principle has been retained by an early, exceptionally well-backed team building a new industrial electric grid for the United States, delivering gigawatts of power optimized for and direct to next-generation data centers and advanced manufacturing hubs.

At the heart of their network is a power terminal with integrated energy storage. It replaces the handcrafted, one-off converter stations the industry has relied on for decades with something repeatable, fast to deploy, and built to keep critical loads online. With projects already in active development across the West, the R&D team is standing up the test capability that will take this hardware from design to the field, safely and fast.

We’re seeking a Test Engineer to build and run that capability: owning test programs, test infrastructure, and failure analysis for gigawatt-scale power equipment. This is a hands-on builder role reporting directly to the Head of R&D.

Key Responsibilities

• Push equipment to its absolute limits alongside power systems engineers and test technicians. You’ll break things, learn why, help build them better, then push them to their new limit and try again.
• Develop hardware and software test programs, anticipating failure modes and turning them into practical, robust test protocols.
• Lead post-mortems and root-cause analysis, feeding findings directly back into power system designs.
• Help design, procure, and commission the company’s test facilities, including hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulators, and own the setups well enough to diagnose and fix faults fast.
• Work directly with project managers, licensed electricians, and R&D partners to keep the test, break, redesign, retest cycle as short as possible while staying compliant, with some of that research likely to be published.

Success Criteria

• A degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field, with 3+ years of commercial experience in power systems or electrical engineering.
• Substantial hands-on experience with complex, safety-critical systems. You’ve seen something important break in expensive ways, and you’ve done the work to figure out why.
• Working familiarity with IEEE, UL, IEC, NEC, NFPA, and ISO standards.
• Relevant backgrounds may include grid-scale energy storage, EV and battery labs, aerospace or defense hardware test, or datacenter electrical infrastructure.

This is a rare chance to build a test function from the ground up on hardware that will power some of the most critical infrastructure in the country, with real authority over how it’s done.

The role is fully on-site in San Francisco, with highly competitive pay, meaningful equity, and fantastic benefits for an early-stage team.

If you’re an electrical engineer who wants to revolutionize the power grid, apply or reach out to the First Principle team today.